To ensure compliance with the principles set out in our Corporate Responsibility policies1, we conduct selection and regular audits of potential and current suppliers for perishables and Private Brand. Selection audits aim to ensure that potential suppliers are aligned with our principles and regular audits allow our Companies to monitor process management, systems management and product formulation.
Supplier selection audits establish minimum requirements that potential suppliers must meet in order to do business with our Companies. Suppliers that do not meet these criteria are not selected and receive information regarding the areas that need to be improved for them to be considered in the future.
For suppliers already working with our Companies, and whenever they are unable to meet the criteria of the regular audits, a corrective action plan is agreed and put in place to enable continuous improvement, the progress of which is monitored together with the suppliers. If suppliers fail to comply with the corrective action plan and/or are unwilling to implement it, action is taken, such as suspending the partnership until confirmation that the identified nonconformity has been remedied, or even terminating the business relationship between the parties.
We conduct three types of audits: food safety and quality, environmental (which also includes our service providers) and social.
1 The Group’s Corporate Responsibility policies, such as the Nutrition Policy, the Product Quality and Safety Policy, the Environmental Policy, the Sustainable Sourcing Policy and the Code of Conduct for Suppliers, are available on our website.